


Here For You

by awgaskarth0805



Category: All Time Low (Band)
Genre: Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-02-28
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:55:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22933654
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awgaskarth0805/pseuds/awgaskarth0805
Summary: A sick and upset Alex shows up to Jack's house on a Friday night.
Kudos: 8





	Here For You

“Oh, god dammit!” Jack yelled at his computer.  
“Language, Jack!” he heard his mom yell down the hall, making him roll his eyes as he paused his game. It was a Friday night, and he was spending it at home, relaxing and playing on his computer. He normally loved hanging out with his friends, but sometimes he liked to have nights to himself where he did his own thing.   
Earlier in the day, he’d texted Alex, his best friend, about possibly doing something together, but Alex hadn’t ever replied, and Jack shrugged this off, even though this was very out of character for him. Jack figured that Alex probably had some sort of family commitment, so he didn’t read too much into it.   
Knowing he wanted to stay up late, Jack decided that a snack sounded like a good idea. It was storming heavily outside, and that was a huge part as to why Jack wanted to stay up so late. He loved to hear the grumble of the thunder, and the rain against his window.   
Jack got up from his desk, and was about to walk out of the room, when he heard a tapping at his window.  
“What the fuck?” Jack mumbled to himself. He slowly walked over to his window, grabbing a bat that he had mounted on his wall to use as protection. When he first got to the window, he wasn’t able to see anything.   
He looked out more, then saw the silhouette of a person, which he eventually recognized to be Alex. Unsure of what was going on, Jack opened his window, and a look of relief appeared on Alex’s face.  
“Alex, what’s going on?” Jack asked his friend.  
“I couldn’t stand being at home; I need you, Jack,” Alex replied through chattering teeth.  
“And you came to my window instead of the front door for what reason?” Jack continued.  
“I didn’t want your parents to see me like this. Can I come in?” Alex asked, coughing some.  
“Yeah, absolutely, come in, man,” Jack replied, feeling grateful that his house was only one story. Alex climbed through the window, and Jack swore that he saw Alex start to shiver.   
As Alex finished climbing in, Jack went into his bathroom, and grabbed an extra towel for Alex, since the storm outside had left him soaking wet.  
“Thanks for the towel,” Alex said, wrapping himself up in it. As Alex dried off, Jack sensed that there was something up with his best friend. He didn’t look like himself, and he didn’t seem as happy and confident as he was most of the time.  
“So, why’d you walk here in the rain? Something seems off with you,” Jack pointed out.  
“I can’t be at home right now, it’s my parents. Also, I’m-“ Alex cut himself off by breaking into a coughing fit. He doubled over, dropping his towel, and continued to cough into his hands. Jack quickly picked up the towel, then did his best to help Alex stand back up, which made him aware of how warm Alex was.  
“I was going to say that I’m sick now, on top of that. The only thing that would make me feel okay is to be here with you. I’m so sorry to impose like this, but I can’t take it anymore,” Alex replied with a sneeze. Jack walked over to his dresser, grabbing PJ pants and a hoodie, then gave them to his friend.  
“Why don’t you go take a hot shower, and I’ll go make you some tea, then we can talk. Does that sound okay?” Jack asked.  
“That sounds great. Thanks, man,” Alex replied, coughing on his way into Jack’s bathroom. Jack walked out of his room, and into the kitchen. While he let some water boil for Alex’s tea, he deiced to get the snack that he’d been craving earlier, so he heated up a pop tart before fixing Alex’s tea. As he did this, his mom walked into the kitchen.  
“You’re making tea, Jack?” Mrs. Barakat asked, sounding surprised.   
“Um, yeah, I thought it’d be good. it’s peaceful in my room with the rain hitting the window, so I thought this would add to it all,” Jack replied, remembering that Alex wanted to keep the fact that he was there a secret, at least for now.  
“Oh, sounds good, son. Enjoy your relaxing night,” Mrs. Barakat said, leaving the kitchen. Jack grabbed his snack and Alex’s tea, then went back to his room. When he walked in, he saw Alex sitting at the foot of his bed, blowing his nose and looking miserable.   
“Here’s your tea, it’s honey lemon. Did the shower help at all?” Jack asked, handing Alex the mug.  
“A little, I guess,” Alex replied, still sounding down. Jack sat next to his friend and put a throw blanket around Alex’s shoulders.  
“Now, what’s going on? What happened with your parents, and why’d you walk all the way here in this big storm when you’re clearly unwell?” Jack asked his friend.  
“My mom and dad got into a huge argument, and it freaked me out,” Alex said in a small voice.  
“Really? Parents argue all the time, dude,” Jack replied.  
“I know, but it’s different for me. When I was a kid, my dad drank too much, and would always pick fights with my mom. I always thought she’d leave him, she even brought up that idea sometimes. He doesn’t drink now, and they have a much happier marriage, but it still scares me every time they fight. I’m always afraid that it’ll go back to how it was when I was a kid, and that they’ll call it quits, and split up,” Alex explained in a raspy voice.  
“Alex, I’m so sorry, I had no idea. How come you’ve never told me about this? We’ve been friends for a while now,” Jack asked back.  
“Because I hate talking about it, it all just gives me anxiety. I try to block it all out of my mind, but when it comes back, or they fight, I just spiral. If I weren’t ick on top of this, I probably wouldn’t have come here tonight, if I’m being honest, but this just made me feel so much worse physically. I got so anxious that I actually threw up, but I don’t really know if it’s because I’m already sick, or if it’s from being anxious. I just hate this so much, Jack. I hate seeing them fight, I feel like shit, and I just can’t take all of this,” Alex said, starting to hyperventilate. Jack saw some tears start to fall from Alex’s eyes, so he wrapped an arm around his friend, pulling him into a hug.  
“Hey, calm down, I don’t want you to make yourself sick again,” Jack said, rubbing Alex’s back. Alex tried to slow his breathing some, but he couldn’t stop the tears from falling.   
All of this surprised Jack quite a bit; he’d taken care of Alex when he was sick, and had helped him with his personal problems, but the combination of the two that he was currently facing left him in a state that Jack had never seen him in before.  
“It just freaks me out so much, dude. Realistically, I know they’re doing better now, but it still scares me. Like, I associate any argument they have now with all of the ones they had back then, and I hate it,” Alex replied, sneezing.  
“Do they know about this? Like, how it freaks you out so much?” Jack asked.  
“No, and I don’t feel comfortable telling them, at least not right now,” Alex said back.  
“Well, you need to have some kind of coping mechanism for when they do argue, so your mind doesn’t spiral like it has tonight. Hey, if you’re comfortable talking to me about this, why don’t you call or text me when they argue, and we can talk through it, and we’ll handle it together. You can even come over, if you feel you need to. I’d be more than happy to help you with this,” Jack offered.  
“I really like that idea, actually. It’s really hard for me to open up with this, but I really trust you, so I’m going to do my best to start doing this. Thank you so much, you’re the best friend ever,” Alex said, making them both smile.  
“No problem, man. I hate to see you so upset, I definitely prefer the overly confident asshole you usually are,” Jack joked, laughing some. Seconds later, Alex broke into another coughing fit, and Jack rubbed his back until the fit finally went away.   
“Man, that really fucking hurt,” Alex said, his voice sounding worse now.  
“It sounded like it. When did you get sick?” Jack asked.  
“I started feeling off in school, I had aches and chills all day. When I got home, I discovered that I have a fever,” Alex explained, grimacing as he held his throat.  
“Did it hurt to talk?” Jack questioned, to which Alex just nodded.  
“Hey, it’s getting a bit late, and you really need to rest. Why don’t we get you all comfortable, and put on a movie to fall asleep to? You can have my bed,” Jack suggested.  
“I don’t want to take your bed from you, dude,” Alex stated.  
“You’re sick, you need to be comfortable so you can rest up and feel better. I’ll be fine on the floor; I’ve got a great sleeping bag!” Jack exclaimed. Feeing too worn out to argue, Alex got under Jack’s covers.   
Jack found his sleeping bag in his closet and got himself set up on the floor next to the bed. After changing into PJs, he turned on his tiny TV, and started to channel surf, eventually landing on an episode of South Park.  
“Is this okay?” Jack asked, getting a nod in reply from Alex. Jack put it on, and they started watching.  
“Hey, thanks for being such a good friend to me, it really means a lot. I don’t really tell people the thing I told you about my parents, but I’m glad we talked about it. Also, thanks for taking care of me,” Alex said, coughing some.  
“Of course, Alex. You can trust me with anything, I’ll always be here for you. Also, you can stay here for as long as you want, and I’ll do my best to help you feel better,” Jack replied.  
“You’re the best, thank you, Jack,” Alex said, making them both smile.  
“You’re welcome, now get some rest,” Jack replied. They both fell asleep to the show quickly, feeling grateful that they had each other as best friends.

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys, I wrote this about three months ago! I still have a few more requests to work on, but I was having writer's block, but still wanted to get something up, which is why I posted this! Some of it is based on my life, but to a higher extreme. I hope you guys liked this, and please send in requests! My spring break is next week, so I'm planning on getting some writing done over it! Thank you all for reading, it really does mean a lot. Lots of love, Liv.


End file.
